Cyberattacks: The New Form of Modern Warfare

The New York Times wrote an article by Mr. John Markoff, entitled "Before the Gunfire, Cyberattacks." The article was in reference to the current on-going conflict between the Republic of Georgia and Russia. Weeks (some say as early as July 20) before Russian forces launched offensives into Georgia, Jose Nazario, of Arbor Networks, noticed a stream of data directed at the Georgian government sites containing the message: "win+love+in+Rusia." The data barage directed at the Georgian Internet infrastructure, specifically government, media, communications, and transportation Web sites, was a coordination of millions of requests, known as Distributed Denial of Service, or D.D.O.S., which overloaded and effectively shut down the Georgian servers.

Some security experts postulate that the D.D.O.S. attack was a dress rehersal for an all-out cyberwar once the shooting started between the two countries. This is the first time a known cyberattack was to actually coincide with a shooting war – but it likely won’t be the last. Cyberattacks are inexpensive and leave very little trace of its perpetrators, and thus, the identity of the attackers at this time is unknown (Georgia claims it was Russia, and Russia says it may be a criminal gang based out of St. Petersburg, called Russian Business Network, or R.B.N.).

This latest example of how cyberattacks can play a major role in the execution of paramilitary, and military, operations, should serve as a warning to all public and private organizations to constantly protect and monitor their network infrastructure. Terrorists can easily create havoc on a corporation, transportation agency, or public institution, simply by executing cyberattacks over the Internet. The possibility of finding and prosecuting these individuals is virtually slim to none, and therefore the corporation will become liable to any third party who falls victim as a result of a cyberattack. Developing and maintaining a risk management corporate policy is one way of mitigating any potential corporate exposure and liability.